Sands was a pure powerhouse and had the packed room riveted for the full hour. She was all about how an author selects essential details that reveal the character to the reader.

We went in deep about how to capture a narrator’s, or character’s, voice through setting, the activity, and objects. Plus, how to use the vocab, sentence structure, and grammar that your character would use.

I’m obsessed with “The Possibility of Now” by Kim Culbertson. I actually keep it next to my self-help books instead of with fiction. Truth:) And yes, this is an autographed copy 🙂

And of course, I had to go to my annual pep talk with Kim. What I love about this workshop is I’ve gone to the same one with Kim three years in a row, and every time, I learn something new. It just goes deeper and deeper.

Beyond the nuts and bolts of agent finding and publishing, Kim gets you to ask the crucial questions. Why do you write? Why do you want to publish? Getting clear about your goals is the first step forward in the process.

Plus, she grounds out the whole publishing discussion. She reminds us that writing and publishing are two very different things that only sometimes overlap.

Kim says that what’s important is to “keep a sacred space for your work” and remembering that you are a writer because you write—not necessarily because you publish.

Getting the Inspiration to Keep On Writing

The best part of these conferences, especially in my small town, is seeing all my writer friends and having some profound discussions. Sharing experiences is so meaningful and motivating. It’s so sweet to know that there is a whole community of writers in my town and beyond.

The poem is my favorite because it’s about my little sisters, aged 19 and 15. When I was visiting home last May, we went to a neighborhood bonfire for the Jewish holiday of Lag B’Omer and had a good heart to heart.

My little sisters are some of the most amazing people I know, and that moment was a special one. So it is really sweet that this haiku about that night got published:) I can’t wait to tell them!

National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo): Sneaking in the Word Count

I had a lot going on this November. While all my activities did reduce my noveling time, that is okay. Sometimes, living life is just more important than writing!

I originally set my goal at 20K words, because I had so much going on last month! I’m happy to say, even though I was a Busy Lizzie, I managed to sneak in an extra 15K words over my expectations. Booyah!

Here are all the crazy things I did this November on top of writing 35,000 words for NaNoWriMo:

Finished My Copyediting Certificate from UC San Diego

I completed Copyediting 3, arguably the most grueling advanced editing class. I spent every Saturday night in October and November doing 5–6 hours of homework. Sometimes Sunday morning was sacrificed too.

Submitted One Poem or Story a Week for Publication

Volunteered as an ML for NaNoWriMo in the California: Elsewhere Region

On top of writing my own novel, I spent months prepping for the event with other volunteers in the California: Elsewhere region. Sure, that ate into my noveling time, but I was helping other people write their novels! So that makes me feel warm and fuzzy.

I Visited My Amazing Family in Philadelphia

By the end of October, I got hit with some serious homesick blues. I decided to visit my family back East, and I’m so glad I did. I made it home in time for my little sister’s 15th birthday and got to spend Thanksgiving with the people I love.

…I also got dragged to the King of Prussia Mall—one of the biggest uber malls in the country—on Thanksgiving night by my little sisters. But I’ll forgive them.

As a bonus, I managed to write 2,000ish words on an Amtrack to New York and 8,000 words on my looooong plane ride home. How’s that for sneaky?

What Went Down During NaNoWriMo: Final Stats

I crushed my word count in 2017!

Here’s what I set out to accomplish:

My mission: to type up my handwritten manuscript and to write an ending to my novel

My goal: hit 20,000 words while staving off insanity

I exceeded my expectations:

Amount of handwritten material typed: about 23,000 words

New material for ending: 12,000 words

Wrote 35K words total

Is the ending finished? No. I still have a bit more to go—maybe another 10 or 15 thousand words. But I’m a lot closer than when I started!

Am I finished typing my handwritten manuscript? Nope. I have a ton more to type! But I did get through one of my notebooks!

What’s Next: More Writing!

Picture from our local write-in (I’m on the right, my friend Amy is on the left). I think this is the end of a word sprint. T-rex hands everyone! Photo credit: Alicia Frost

NaNoWriMo lit a fire under my desk chair. This December, I plan to write the end to my novel and finish typing the rough draft.

Our Thank Gosh It’s Over Party is this weekend, so I may post a clip of me reading an excerpt from my novel. So stay tuned!

How Did Your NaNoWriMo Go?

Did you manage to write 50,000 words in one month? If so, my hat is off to you! Tell me about your novel adventures in the comment section below.

About “Blood Red” Flash Fiction

For the contest, we were given photo prompts. I chose a picture of a girl sleeping with a book—only the book had a flower growing out of it. I liked the surreal image and let it percolate in my mind.

Writing and Critiquing

I wrote the story over the course of one weekend, though it took me two or three drafts to get it right. Since it’s original publishing, I’ve workshopped it in a few critique groups. Though the story ended up being less than 500 words, it took many hours of editing!

Special thanks to my friends on Scribophile for all their helpful suggestions!

Story Inspired by Death of a Classmate

During the 2016 Spring Semester, I was a student at Sierra College. One of my classmates died suddenly during that time from a drug overdose.

It was a shock to the whole class, but especially to me. I had sat next to the student for a few weeks. We had traded jokes back and forth. Suddenly, he was gone.

In a lot of ways, this story helped me to work through the sudden loss I felt.

Biblical References

I grew up steeped in Jewish culture, so biblical references crop up in my work a lot.

In this story, the narrator throws a book into the fire, but it does not burn. To me, this is a metaphor for speaking directly to the collective unconscious, just as in the story of the burning bush.